


Of unicorns and gods

by Lusewing



Category: Orignal
Genre: Gen, just a little made up myth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-08 00:40:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17376221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lusewing/pseuds/Lusewing
Summary: I've got many stories scattered around many fandoms, this is a small snipit from one such stories where a Knight tells his squire a legend he heard about unicorns.





	Of unicorns and gods

**Author's Note:**

> I was, and still am, rather happy with this little mythical piece. It's cut from a larger story that I never finished (I am a bad bad person). You don't really need any background, just jump in if you fancy a short tale.

“Hmm, well I guess we have time for one of the stories. It certainly beats riding in silence. Truth be told, most blame us humans for the extinction of the unicorns. Their magical properties rivaled even those of a dragon and, the rarer they became, the more they were sought after.”

“They can’t have been that powerful if we managed to wipe them out.” snorted Gideon. She had seen that dragon only a few hours before, there was no way a horse with a horn could be more powerful.

“You see that's the strange thing Giddy, unicorns were powerful, but around humans they seemed to weaken. It was rumored that single girl could bring one to its knees with just a touch. All of the races have their own tales to tell when it comes to the unicorn, but it was one of the elven stories that I most remember. I can’t tell it word for word but I can at least give you the jist of it. I guess the best place to start is from the beginning.” The knight cleared his throat and looked off into the distance as he let the story surface from his memories.

“When the Realms were new and the gods were young, they began to make things to fill their worlds with. At first came the elementals, beings created from the very hearts of the gods, they took great joy in pitting them against one another but they soon grew tired of their sport, for the elementals did not have hearts or thoughts of their own. 

As is the way with time, it breeds creativity and eventually Water and Air tried to create something together, to see what they could make combined, but no matter how hard they tried their creations never held together, drifting apart in failure. Soon, Earth and Fire joined in, eager to try something new and add their strength, but still nothing lasted from their efforts.

The gods were puzzled. Never before had they faced a challenge they could not overcome. Fire, with his temper, grew angry with the shapeless blob and tried to hold it together with only partial success. Not to be outdone the other gods joined in, each one pushing as hard as they could to hold their creation, and with each surge of strength the blob grew smaller and harder till at last they could move back and view what they made.

Before them lay a tiny egg, the first egg any of them had ever seen, for it was the first egg that had ever been. The four gods stood and watched to see what their new creation would do, but to their horror its beautiful surface soon became marred with cracks. The gods watched helpless as their hard work prove to be for nothing, their creation was simply not meant to be, they had failed and the egg shattered. 

But from within the egg came two beings, one light and one dark.  
‘Who are you?’ The gods asked  
‘I am Life.’ Said the light one.  
‘I am Death.’ said the dark one.

‘What is Life?’ Asked the gods .  
‘I am your will, your strength, your pride. Your need to succeed and to be.’ Said Life.

‘What is Death?’ Asked the gods.  
‘I am your limits, your weakness, your humility. Your acceptance of failure and need to give up.’ Said Death.

The newly born twin Gods looked before them and picked up their eggshell. Together they blew on the fragments and from the pieces came trees and plants and grass that spread across the worlds, and brought colour to the realms.

The gods were amazed at what the Twins could make. Eager to see more, Air reached to her head and gathered a few strands of her hair for them. Again the sisters blew together and from the hair came birds and all manner of creatures who fly in the sky.  
Water and Earth quickly followed suit and soon the worlds were filled with so much life that the gods found themselves truly happy. 

Fire watched. He did not like that Life and Death could do something he could not. He sent his fires to burn the trees, the plants and the grass. To burn the creatures of the earth, boil the creatures of the sea and choke the creatures of the air. Thus death came to the realms.

The other gods wept to see the beauty of life gone, but Death collected the ashes.

‘Do not cry.’ Said Death. ‘For what I take away, my sister will return.’ Death handed the ashes to her sister who began to sprinkle them back upon the realms to once more bring life back to the worlds. Fire tried to repeat his actions but the other gods used their own powers to fight him, flooding the land and cooling the seas but their very actions only served to bring death back and destroy what they were trying to save, even Fire grew sad to see the colours and creatures suffer and fade, but his pride would not let him give in. 

After many eons the gods came to a truce. No longer would they battle upon the worlds. No longer would they see their creations destroyed and for a time there was peace. 

But again the gods grew bored, as is their way. Earth asked the other gods to help him make something new. Water and Air both agreed but Fire’s pride was still sore and he refused. When the Twins blew upon the mix of earth, air and water a very new creature came into being, for these were the first Elves.”

“Wait a minute.” Interrupted Gideon “I thought you said Dwarves were the first race?”

“In the Dwarven story I told you they were the first race. This is an Elven story so of course they are going to tell it their way. Im sure if you looked hard enough through Ogre stories you would find tales that shows that they were the first race. In the end it doesn't really matter who was first. May I continue?” 

“Are we getting to the part with the Unicorns yet?” Not that Gideon wasn’t enjoying the story, she just wanted to get to the part she was waiting on.

Sir Wallace laughed.  
“We are nearly there now, just be glad I am giving you the shortened version, you know how much those elves like to go on. Right then where did I get to...Oh yes the elves.”

“The elves were different from the other creatures that roamed the lands. For they could change the shape of the land, master the oceans and call on the winds to help their arrows fly true. Only fire would not obey them for fire was not a part of them.

The Fire god once again grew jealous but he was no longer allowed to work his magic on the worlds. Instead he asked the other gods to help him make a creature like the elves and all but Water agreed, for Water and Fire never got along. However, into the mix of earth and air Fire added a piece of his very heart in the hope that this creature would be greater than the elves and be his to control and guide. Thus from the mix rose the Dragons.

Many more races were created but soon the gods grew more interested in influencing their creations and watching them, then making new life. Thus Life and Death were forgotten.

Death did not mind, for she had always been humble, but Life had the pride of the gods within her. She felt that she did not need the others, she could create something all herself; and so, reaching into her own heart she took a piece and breathed on to it , but nothing happened. Loathed to ask the others for help Life searched the lands until she came across a single shard of the shell that had once held her and her sister, a single tiny sliver they must have missed. To this she added the piece of her heart and breathed upon it, creating the first Unicorns.

These graceful, beautiful beasts enchanted all who saw them, including the gods but the Unicorns proved to be too powerful and too proud for Death had had no part in their creation and thus they had no limit. With the power of life at their control and the magic granted to them by the shard of the first egg, the unicorns began to alter those around them. Even the dragons, who were also made from the heart of a god, were forced to bend to their will. 

The gods pleaded with Life to control her creation, but unicorns would not listen to her guidance, and the truce of the war prevented any god for using their powers directly upon the worlds, even her. Eventually Life sort the counsel of her sister. 

‘I will do what I can.’ Said Death. She asked for a single strand of hair from each of the gods and from herself she added, not her heart, but her tears.

‘Now we must breathe it into being my sister, but you must only give it a whisper of a breath.’ Life listened to Death and only gave a small amount of her being. And so, from the mix came the last creature. Humans.”

“So the unicorns are Life and we are basically Death’s creations?” Gideon sounded horrified at the prospect. Sir Wallace on the other hand gave a sigh of mild frustration at being interrupted, again.

“Giddy its a story, an Elven story at that, and you know most of their early works hardly depict humans in a good light. Besides, out of all the ruling races we are by far the shortest lived, I guess it just made sense to them to think that we had been touched more by death. Now no more interruptions, I’m almost at the end.” Sir Wallace waited to see if his squire had anything more to say on the matter but she held her tongue.

“It was not for many years till the unicorns and the humans met, and in that time the short lived race had already built a kingdom. The unicorns were at first delighted at the thought of another race to improve upon, but the closer they got to the kingdom the weaker they became and soon they began to fear the humans. Retreating into forests where they could hide, avoiding all contact with these creatures. But humans spread quickly and brought death wherever they went, with their wars or hunts. Soon nowhere was safe.

The unicorns at last learned of death and they were afraid. They pleaded with Life, whom they had once ignored, but she would not help them. So instead they turned to the other gods. Each god promised to help so long as they would give up their horn, the source of their power, for it was made from the shard of the first egg, and to those that agreed the gods gave a gift. From Air, they grew wings and became the Pegasi. From Earth, they grew antlers and became the Golden Hinds. From Water they grew fins and became the Hippocampi. Only Fire would not help, as he would not forgive the unicorns for deforming many of his dragons into mere shadows of themselves for they now roamed the land as salamanders and sand worms.

The last of the unicorns, who refused the aid of the gods, were caught one by one by the humans who saw fit to take their horns for themselves, riding them and using them as beasts of burden until finally, the death that the humans carried within, seeped into the very being of these unicorns, forever changing them into horses. The End.”

“Well that was rather grim. Are all elven tales so dark?” Gideon just felt sorry for the unicorns now. She even felt bad about riding Duty in a way. Was he really descended from unicorns?  
“Isn’t there some sort of happy ending?”

“Few stories have happy endings Giddy, even in our culture. And though I very much doubt we are the product of a death god, sometimes you can find grains of truths in stories.


End file.
